Words Matter: A Sermon for the 15th Sunday After Pentecost

May only truth be spoken and only truth received. Amen.

Over the next few weeks, we will be venturing into the Letter of James. This letter is considered to be the first universal letter, meaning that rather than being addressed to a specific community – like Paul’s writings to the Corinthians or the Ephesians – James was writing to the church at large. His letters were meant to be circulated among many churches. Think of it like a priest writing a sermon and then sharing it with a mailing list.

As with many other letters in the bible, no one knows for sure who wrote the Letter of James. It was a fairly common name back then. Was it James, the son of Zebedee? Was it James the apostle? Was it James, the brother of Jesus? Most commentaries go with that last one, and if that’s the case, then this particular James knew Jesus and followed Jesus for his entire life, which would make him a bit of an expert of Jesus’ work.

As we work our way through the letter, you will find that the overall message from James is to harmonize faith and action, and to do so as a community, for the community.

This morning, there are two wisdom lessons that James is trying to get across to his audience, and to us:

1. Thoughts and prayers aren’t always enough.

2. Actions speak louder than words.

Both of these statements should make you pause and think about your faith, about what it means to you to be a Christian. I would consider myself to be a good Christian. I believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I read and listen to the Word of God. I pray. I’m sure everyone here could probably say the same thing.

I think, mostly, we call ourselves Christian because we tune in each Sunday to hear the Word, to hear the Gospel proclaimed. We cross the threshold of the building to hear the word and to pray for ourselves, our local community, and our global community. We pat ourselves on the back, congratulating ourselves for another job well-done, and we go home.

But there are people who rarely attend church services and yet could be considered more Christian than many. These are the people who go out into the world to be with and help the poor, the invalid, the sick, the unwanted, and the dying.

For too many, Christianity has become all talk, talk, talk. Don’t do this, don’t do that. Be this, be that. The church, as a whole, appears to have become complacent. If you really want to show your true faith in God and in Jesus, then you need to get out there and help the widowed and the orphaned, the poor and the sick.

A friend of mine once said, “I believe so deeply in the power of prayer. 

And it would be really amazing if the church would do more than pray. I think we are all aware now that when it comes to justice, "thoughts and prayers" is good but not enough.”

Jesus made company with the poor, the sick, and the unwanted. He spent most of his time with the lowest of the people and he loved them all, gathering where the people were, spreading the word about the Kingdom of God, and the wisdom of God, and the grace of God.

Christianity began as a group of people who wanted to share Jesus’ message and lessons with everyone around them.

In today’s reading, James implies a kind of deep forgetfulness that leaves the religious self unable to function fully. He implies that we have forgotten what it truly means to be Christian.

To hear the Word and not to do the Word is to forget what you look like - to forget the image of God within you - to forget that the Word is within you waiting to come forth in abundant love, mercy and grace.

So, this is what James tells us: that we are to be quick to “hear,” because not hearing enough leads us, inevitably, to speech that is angry and unproductive. But hearing alone is not sufficient. We must also “do,” because failing to act is evidence of a fundamental failure to function as God’s first fruits in the world.

In 1:22-24, he speaks about a lack of connection between hearing and doing, between who one is and what one does. He asks us to picture ourselves standing in front of a mirror. We are to pause there as James asks, “Do you see who you are?”

You are someone who has been blessed by God’s gifts, someone who has been brought to new life through God’s word – a person who is a first fruit, set aside as someone who belongs to God.

And with that gift, with the gift of God’s grace and wisdom, we are meant to get out there and do as Jesus did. We declare our faith to be alive and strong by loving our neighbours, caring for the sick, and making friends with the poor.

When our words and actions are in harmony, it is our neighbors who benefit. For when we know who we are, the gifted children of God’s creation, our hearing and doing come together and conform in care and service for those most in need of our love.

Perhaps, if we as Christians were to follow James’s precepts, we would do a lot less talking and a lot more listening. We would measure our faith by our personal relationships, both in our habits of speech and our relationships with others in the community. Our primary expression of our religion would be in outreach to the poor and neglected. By such attitudes and actions, James tells us, we fulfill the divine purpose and become first fruits of all God’s creatures.

Again, to hear the Word and not to do the Word is to forget the image of God within you, to forget that the Word is within you waiting to come forth in abundant love, mercy and grace. To see the world in those eyes means we can no longer be blind or deaf to the “orphans and widows in their distress”.

As congregations of the IRSM, we need to show the world what true Christian faith is all about. Entering a building doesn’t make you a Christian. Spreading the love of Jesus to others – that’s what being a Christian is all about.

So go out into the neighbourhood and declare your faith in Jesus by showing love for your neighbour every day, not just on Sunday but everyday! Go forth into the world to LOVE and show faith in Jesus. It’s not about our butts in the pews. It’s about our feet on the street!

Amen.

Resources:

"New Collegeville Bible Commentary" edited by Daniel Durken

"The Queer Bible Commentary" edited by Mona West and Robert E Shore-Goss

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Tayler

pulpitfiction.com